Marcus Tullius

Rome in the days of the Cicero brothers was a vast empire run as if it were still a small town nestled among seven hills along the Tiber River.

The richest citizens held a disproportionate degree of power over the much more numerous lower classes. Often a sufficient number of ballots would be cast to elect a candidate even before the poorer citizens could come to the polls

The senior consul could then take up the fasces—a bundle of rods with an axe fixed in the top symbolizing his authority—on his inauguration day on January 1 and for one year enjoy the unmatched power and prestige of governing the Roman Republic, whose might extended over much of the known world.